16 months!

Michael turned 16 months old a few days ago, and I don't know why, but for some reason it seemed like such a milestone for me, as in - Holy crap...my baby is growing up!! He is amazing, and every day when I look into his eyes he seems to be looking right back at me with his knowing eyes as if he understands everything that I am saying and doing.  I am amazed by how aware he is of sounds around him and of pieces of conversation that he picks out and starts pointing or jibber-jabbing about.  I think his day-to-day process of learning how to talk is simply fascinating.

Here are his 16 month stats:

Weight: 23 lbs, 11 oz

Height: 32 inches

Teeth: 6 in total, 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom

Hair:  very light brown

Eyes: bluish/green

Sleep: 10 hours at night {8/8:30 PM - 6/6:30 AM}, one nap - 1.5-2.5 hours long.  Still frequently wakes once overnight.  Drinks a bottle before naptime and bedtime.

Favorite foods:  pasta, french toast, crackers, corn, spaghettios.  Sometimes bananas, peas, carrots, apples, and green beans, depending on the day.  A picky eater in general, doesn't eat very much yet.

Favorite things: his blankie, anything Thomas the Train, trains/cars, balls, building blocks, kitties and puppies, the app SoundTouch, (which shows pictures of animals and then plays the sound they make), and anything that he can push 

Favorite books: My First 100 Words, Little Blue Truck Leads the Way, My First Farm, Where's Spot

Words: "dada", "mama", "papa" for my dad, "baa" for what a sheep says, "put-put" for tractor, makes a high-pitched "meow"-ish sound for kitty, "raaaar" for lions and bears, and a sound that is hard to articulate for what pigs say

Temperament: happy, outgoing, and loves to smile and laugh at strangers when he's out and about, especially females.  He always goes up to little kids his age and hugs them, and likes to kiss the girls!  Very determined, and when he wants something he will yell and scream until you acknowledge what it is that he wants!  

Dislikes: the car seat, road trips, and having to sit still for longer than 10 seconds

Milestones: he is constantly in motion - sometimes running - and climbs anything he can find.  He can dance (move his feet around fast on the floor while bobbing his head) and is working on learning how to jump and do somersaults.  He can throw and kick a ball, and can climb up and down the stairs well while holding onto someone's hands

What we're working on: words, colors, numbers, catching balls

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I picked up this book of poetry from the library, and am really enjoying it.  Here is one of my favorites:

Ode

by Elizabeth Alexander

I love all the mom bodies at the beach,

the tummies, the one-piece bathing suits,

the bosoms that slope, the wide nice bottoms,

thigh flesh shirred as gentle wind shirrs a pond.

So many sensible haircuts and ponytails!

These bodies show they have grown babies, then

nourished them, woken to their cries, fretted

at their fevers.  Biceps have lifted and toted

the babies now printed on their mothers.

"If you lined up a hundred vaginas,

I could tell you which ones have borne children,"

the midwife says.  In the secret place of

in the sunlight at the beach, our bodies say

This is who we are, no, This is what

we have done and continue to do.

We labor in love. We do it. We mother.